Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of reconstituted tobacco sheet, and more particularly relates to a method for improving the quality and economic usefulness of reconstituted tobacco sheet in finished smoking products.
It is known that by 1964, at least fifteen percent of the tobacco incorporated into domestic smoking products was formed from reconstituted tobacco sheet. There is no single definition for reconstituted tobacco sheet, since the term indicates any extended web, film or sheet of material containing tobacco which has been formed by the aggregation of a plurality of relatively small particles of tobacco (e.g. dust, fines, waste, shreds etc), with or without additional materials. The basic known processes for forming reconstituted tobacco sheet are as follows:
1. Dust-impingement. PA1 2. Tobacco slurry. PA1 3. Impregnation-of-web. PA1 4. Paper. PA1 5. Extrusion.
The dust-impingement process involves impinging ground tobacco upon an adhesive surface, and then drying the mixture. The tobacco slurry process involves forming a dispersion of ground tobacco in a solution containing such materials as adhesive, ash additives, humectants and reinforcing fibers, and casting the slurry onto a smooth surface such as a roller or plate, where it is dried into a continuous sheet. The impregnation-of-web process involves impregnating a sheet or web of carrier material such as paper or other cellulosic product with a finely divided mixture of tobacco. The paper process involves forming a tobacco sheet from tobacco fibers in a manner similar to the conventional process of forming paper from cellulosic fibers. The extrusion process involves the mechanical extrusion of a mass containing finely divided tobacco particles into a continuous sheet. This sheet may also contain adhesives, ash additives, humectants, reinforcing fibers and the like. In my copending application filed Aug. 11, 1972, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and made a part hereof, I have described a method of treating tobacco in which physical force is used to cause liquid containing catalase and hydrogen peroxide to permeate the interstices of tobacco where they are reacted with each other in situ, enhancing properties of the tobacco. The forms of tobacco treated in accordance with that process are whole leaf, lamina, cut ribs and stems, and finished reconstituted tobacco sheet. I have now discovered that the basic tobacco ingredients (e.g. dust, fines, waste, shreds etc.) which are utilized by all processes for making reconstituted tobacco sheet may be also treated by the in situ reaction of catalase and hydrogen peroxide during the transformation of these ingredients into a finished reconstituted tobacco sheet.